New: Extreme Heat Risk Governance Framework and Toolkit
New guidance to protect workers from increasing heat stress
New Reports Mark UN Heat Action Anniversary, Support Smarter Global Response
Network Updates
Led by WMO and WHO, our dynamic network of policy makers, scientists, and practitioners are working together for a world where extreme heat is no barrier to lives and livelihoods.
Explore our
Key Activities
Heat Risk Governance
Building effective and aligned multi-sectoral heat risk governance.
Heat Health Metrics
Measuring the true impact of extreme heat on health.
Indoor Heat Risks
Informing decision-making about indoor heat risks to human health
Global Synthesis Report
Supporting policy with the latest heat health science
Extreme Heat, Smart Responses: Applying cutting-edge science and analytics to address survivability in a warming world
Oct 9, 2025
GSTIC2025, Rockefeller Foundation
UNGA High-Level Solutions Dialogue on Accelerating Early Warning and Extreme Heat Solutions
Sep 22, 2025
UN Secretary-General’s Climate Action Team, WMO, UNDRR, IFRC, ITU, UNEP, Brazil
The Second Africa Climate Summit 2025 (ACS2)
Sep 8, 2025 - Sep 10, 2025
Government of Ethiopia (GoE) & African Union (AU)
WHA78 debriefing: Global Action Plan on Climate Change and Health
Jul 23, 2025
World Health Organization (WHO)
International School on Heat Adaptation
Jul 21, 2025 - Jul 25, 2025
EPIC Center of the Montreal Heart Institute
Addressing Extreme Heat’s Impacts on Maternal and Child Health: Webinar Series
Jul 8, 2025
UNICEF Children’s Environmental Health Collaborative and the Global Heat Health Information Network
Aplicación de estudios sobre ENSO en operaciones en América Latina y el Caribe / Application of ENSO Research in Operations Across Latin America and the Caribbean
Jul 3, 2025
World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research & University of Colorado Boulder
Extreme Heat & Workforce Health: Navigating Policy & Preparedness
Jun 30, 2025
Health Action Alliance
Cities leading the way: advancing healthy and just transitions through urban climate action
Jun 19, 2025
Pathfinder Initiative, C40 Cities, Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA) & Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)
Beating the Heat: A 2025 Heat Policy Agenda
Jun 17, 2025
Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) & Federation of American Scientists
Heat Emergencies: Prevention, Diagnosis, and Management
Jun 16, 2025 - Jun 25, 2025
Harvard Medical School
Launch and first hearing of the Pan-European Commission on Climate and Health
Jun 11, 2025
World Health Organization (WHO)
Call for proposals for COP30 Supporting Documents on climate and health
Jun 10, 2025
World Health Organization (WHO)
The 8th Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GP2025)
Jun 2, 2025 - Jun 6, 2025
UNDRR & WMO
Too Hot to Ignore: Reporting on Heat Waves and their Growing Impacts in a Warming World”
May 29, 2025
Climate Central
2025 Heat Action Day: Cities Beat the Heat
May 27, 2025
Global Cities Hub & Red Cross Climate Centre
South and Southeast Asia Climate and Health Responders Course – Session 3: Heat- Related Illness and Mortality
May 21, 2025
Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education (GCCHE)
Climate Change and Health: Adaptation and Resilience in a Changing World
May 21, 2025
Tsinghua University Vanke School of Public Health (VSPH)
Live from WHA78: Temperatures Rising: Preparing and Protecting for Extreme Heat
May 21, 2025
Wellcome, The Rockefeller Foundation, Global Heat Health Information Network
South and Southeast Asia Climate and Health Responders Course – Session 2: Degraded Air Quality
May 14, 2025
Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education (GCCHE)
South and Southeast Asia Climate and Health Responders Course – Session 1: Climate Change for the Health Professional
May 7, 2025
Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education (GCCHE)
The “What” of Systems Transformation: Anchoring Climate Action in Health
Apr 29, 2025 - Apr 30, 2025
U.S. National Academy of Medicine (NAM)
Connecting Health and Climate Change Conference (#ENBEL2025)
Apr 16, 2025 - Apr 18, 2025
University of Tartu, UMEÅ University & CICERO
Strategizing for Stronger Climate and Health Action: GCHA General Membership Assembly
Feb 20, 2025
The Global Climate & Health Alliance
Extreme Heat Reporting Training in West Africa
Feb 10, 2025 - Feb 12, 2025
Climate Resilience for All
Climate change, health and outdoor workers in urban Vietnam: linking vulnerability, extreme weather and policy
Jan 27, 2025
National Center for Social Research
105th Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society (AMS)
Jan 12, 2025 - Jan 16, 2025
American Meteorological Society (AMS)
Abstract Submission for the 1st GHHIN Southeast Asia Heat Health Forum
Dec 13, 2024
Southeast Asia Heat Health Hub
Sri Lanka Launch of the 2024 report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change
Dec 12, 2024
Lancet Countdown
Greater Sydney Heat Smart City Plan
Dec 5, 2024
Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) & Urban Transformations Research Centre (UTRC)
Beat the Heat: Connecting Global and Local to Scale-up Action for Heatwave Resilience
Nov 20, 2024
UNDP at COP29’s IOM Climate Change and Human Mobility Pavilion Programme
COP29 Health Pavilion: Extreme Heat Regional Round Table
Nov 18, 2024
World Health Organization (WHO)
Gender-Responsive Heat Actions for Cities: High Level Event
Nov 15, 2024
Asian Development Bank & Atlantic Council
Beyond Emergency Response: Long-Term Transformations for Extreme Heat Resilience
Nov 14, 2024
UNDRRR, ICLEI & IFRC
Multilateral Development Banks Driving the Transition of the Built Environment and Addressing Extreme Heat
Nov 14, 2024
UNEP & Cool Coalition
Heat Stress: Protecting Workers and Increasing Resilience
Nov 14, 2024
International Labour Organization (ILO)
High-level Event Convened by the United Nations Secretary-General on Delivering Early Warnings for All and Addressing Extreme Heat
Nov 13, 2024
UN Secretary-General
Climate and Heat Health – 11th NUS-Cambridge Joint Symposium 2024
Nov 5, 2024 - Nov 6, 2024
Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine & School of Clinical Medicine at Cambridge
World Urban Forum WUF12
Nov 4, 2024 - Nov 8, 2024
UN-Habitat & The Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Climate and Health Financing: The Current Conversation and a Model for Application
Oct 30, 2024
Children’s Environmental Health (CEH) Collaborative, CHTF, Save the Children, Global Communities, Global Climate and Health Alliance & UNICEF.
Global Launch of the 2024 report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change
Oct 30, 2024
Lancet Countdown
The Climate of the Future: Can we handle the heat?
Oct 9, 2024
AMOS, The university of Sydney, ARC Centre of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st Century & ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes
18th Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Risks-Session PL7: Air Quality, Heat and Health in the Mediterranean
Sep 30, 2024 - Oct 3, 2024
European Geosciences Union EGU
Reducing Mortality in a Future with Extreme Heat: Introducing Project HEATWAVE
Sep 26, 2024
NYU Langone Health
Extreme Weather Survivors – the storytellers and changemakers who are demanding accountability
Sep 25, 2024
Extreme Weather Survivors
Harvard Presents: Is It Already Too Hot to Work?
Sep 24, 2024
Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability at Harvard University
Heatwaves and Health: community-based health resilience in a warming world
Sep 23, 2024
Climate Week NYC
Climate Visuals and Climate Resilience for All: New Guidance Online Discussion
Aug 21, 2024
Climate Visuals and Climate Resilience for All
Virtual roundtable discussion on “Extreme Heat Adaptation and Mitigation Programming: Lessons from the Affected Population”
Aug 16, 2024
All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI)
NJ Interagency Council on Climate Resilience Asks: Has it Always Been This Hot in NJ?
Aug 13, 2024
NJ Interagency Council on Climate Resilience
Webinar on Extreme Urban Heat: Opportunities to Mitigate Risks in Cities
Aug 13, 2024
World Resources Institute
2024 New Mexico Extreme Heat, Health, and Resiliency Summit
Jul 11, 2024
The Medical Society Consortium on Climate & Health
Emerging Risks from Concurrent, Compounding and Record-breaking Extreme Heat across Sectors
Jul 10, 2024 - Jul 12, 2024
Columbia Climate School
SHARE 2024 – Sustainable Healthcare Academic Research and Enterprise
Jun 25, 2024
University of Brighton, Brighton and Sussex Medical School & Center for Sustainable Healthcare
Forecasting Healthy Futures (FHF) Global Summit 2024
Jun 18, 2024 - Jun 20, 2024
Forecasting Healthy Futures
Webinar: Supporting a strategic approach to urban health
Jun 18, 2024
World Health Organization (WHO)
Heat Action Day 2024 – Expression of Interest
Jun 2, 2024
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
World Cities Summit 2024
Jun 2, 2024 - Jun 4, 2024
Centre for Liveable Cities & Urban Redevelopment Authority
Understanding and preparing for the predicted 2024 extreme heat season in the Sahel: A collaborative approach
May 7, 2024
Anticipation Hub, Red Cross Climate Centre, ANACIM Senegal
18th International Conference on Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change (CBA18)
May 6, 2024 - May 9, 2024
Tanzania People & Wildlife
Webinar: Occupational Health in the Climate Crisis / Salud laboral en la crisis climática
May 2, 2024
Ibero-American Society for Environmental Health (SIBSA); Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA)
Launch of the 2023 Lancet Countdown Latin America Report / Fortaleciendo el nexo de cambio climático, salud y políticas públicas: Evidencia desde Lancet Countdown Latinoamérica y el IAI
Apr 24, 2024
Lancet Countdown Latin America, IAI & UVG
Health & Equity in Action-Climate Solutions Summit
Apr 19, 2024 - Apr 20, 2024
Climate Solutions Accelerator
United States National Integrated Heat Health Information System
Apr 16, 2024 - Apr 18, 2024
National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS)
Extreme heat: processes, impacts, physiological responses and adaptation
Apr 14, 2024 - Apr 19, 2024
European Geosciences
Virtual Q&A webinar for IDRC funding applications for Regional hubs for climate change and health
Mar 7, 2024
IDRC | CRDI
2024 Connecticut Symposium on Climate Change and Health: Preparing for a healthy Connecticut in the face of climate change
Mar 6, 2024
Yale Center on Climate Change and Health & Connecticut Department of Public Health
The links between climate change and mental health: What do we know and what needs to be done about it?
Feb 29, 2024
Imperial College of London
UNEA-6 – The Urban Environment: Cooling Cities and Buildings
Feb 27, 2024
UNEP Cities Unit, Cool Coalition, Global ABC & Generation Restoration
Postdoctoral Researcher – Urbane: Urban Numerical Weather Prediction Expedited
Feb 26, 2024
University of Reading
Designing Health Systems Resilience: Surviving The Present, Ensuring The Future
Feb 26, 2024
The New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM)
Research Perspectives on the Health Impacts of Climate Change
Feb 19, 2024
Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
Climate change and urban health: opportunities for research and action
Feb 19, 2024
Yale School of Public Health
Conference for Advancing Participatory Sciences Poster Submissions
Feb 14, 2024
Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences
2024 Annual Meeting: From the Clinic to the Capitol
Feb 11, 2024 - Feb 12, 2024
The Medical Society Consortium on Climate & Health
104th American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting
Jan 28, 2024 - Feb 1, 2024
American Meteorological Society
The 2024 Urban Heat Island Mapping Campaign Application is Now Open!
Dec 20, 2023 - Jan 31, 2024
National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS)
Call For Papers – Cityscape Symposium on Extreme Heat in Cities
Dec 10, 2023 - Apr 3, 2024
Cityscape Symposium
Building Heat-Resiliency: Actions and Opportunities for Healthier Cities and Communities
Dec 9, 2023
GHHIN, UN-Habitat, Red Cross Climate Centre, ICLEI, WMO, Arbor Day Foundation, NRDC
Supporting climate- and health-friendly urban communities and economies
Nov 28, 2023
OECD COP28 Virtual Pavilion
Climate Action and Health A COP28 Pre-Conference in Abu Dhabi
Nov 27, 2023 - Nov 28, 2023
NYU-Abu Dhabi Institute and Policy Committee of the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology
Heat & Health Research Incubator Summit Series – Maternal & Child Health
Nov 16, 2023
Heat and Health Research Incubator
16th European Public Health Conference 2023
Nov 8, 2023 - Nov 11, 2023
European Public Health Association
2023 State of Climate Services for Health Report – High-level Launch
Nov 2, 2023
World Meteorological Organization
5th call for short films by the Health for All Film Festival!
Nov 1, 2023 - Jan 31, 2024
The world Health Organization (WHO)
Creating Effective Warnings For All Conference
Sep 11, 2023 - Sep 13, 2023
University College London
Impossible Heatwaves: Should Everyone Have the Right to Remain Cool During a Global Climate Crisis?
Jun 28, 2023
Pandemic Response Institute
Workshop on Communities, Climate Change, and Health Equity – Lessons Learned in Addressing Inequities in Heat-Related Climate Change Impacts
Jun 20, 2023 - Jun 21, 2023
National Academies
Southeast Asia Climate and Health Responders
Jun 6, 2023 - Jun 29, 2023
Columbia University, St. Luke's Medical Center, Health Care Without Harm
International Congress of Biometeorology: From Urban to Global Sustainability
May 14, 2023 - May 17, 2023
Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University
Working on a warmer planet: Sharing international experience on occupational heat stress
May 9, 2023 - May 10, 2023
ILO
Setting up early warning systems for heatwaves: challenges for engaging across sectors
Apr 19, 2023
CHANCE Network, University of Botswana
Course: Pan American Climate Resilient Health Systems
Apr 4, 2023 - Mar 20, 2023
Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education
Masterclass – Can’t stand the heat? Climate Change, Thermal Comfort and Health
Mar 22, 2023
Royal Meteorological Society
Webinar: Heat Risk Perspectives
Feb 14, 2023
Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, Global Disaster Preparedness Center, GHHIN
Webinar on Extreme Heat Impacts and Actions
Jan 24, 2023
Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, Global Disaster Preparedness Center, GHHIN
Webinar: US – NIHHIS Community Climate Studies – Observing, Modeling, and Mitigating Urban Heat for Equitable Resilience
Sep 13, 2022
NIHHIS
Summer Urban Heat Projects in Philadelphia and Charleston
Sep 7, 2022
Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast
NASA Applied Remote Sensing Training Program (ARSET) – Satellite Remote Sensing for Measuring Urban Heat Islands and Constructing Heat Vulnerability Indices.
Aug 2, 2022 - Jul 11, 2022
NASA
7th Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction
May 23, 2022 - May 28, 2022
Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction
Temperature Related Illness and Mortality Session: Caribbean Climate and Health Responders Course
Apr 27, 2022
Columbia University, CIMH
Masterclass: Heat Early Warning Systems – Scientific Approaches for Estimating Thresholds
Oct 28, 2021
South Asia Heat Health Information Network (SAHHIN)
Webinar: Thermal Remote Sensing of Urban Climates
Sep 8, 2021
International Association for Urban Climate
Masterclass: Early Warning Systems for Heat Stress Management
Sep 2, 2021
South Asia Heat Health Information Network (SAHHIN)
Webinar: Global Master Class on Climate Adaptive Heat Action Plans
Aug 25, 2021
South Asia Heat Health Information Network (SAHHIN)
Southeast Climate Monthly Webinar: New Climate Normals
Jul 13, 2021
Southeast Regional Climate Center, NIDIS, NOAA
Pre-Olympic International Conference for Adaptations and Nutrition in Sports in 2020
Jul 9, 2021 - Jul 12, 2021
ICANS
Webinar: Climate and Heat: Trends, Health Impacts, and Risks
Jun 24, 2021
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Webinar: Heat Waves and COVID-19 – lessons learned from summer 2020 by national public health institutes
May 12, 2021
IANPHI
Webinar: Time for heat health action – Updated evidence for effective prevention
May 5, 2021
WHO Euro
Masterclass: Understanding, Modeling, and Mitigating Urban Heat Islands
Feb 17, 2021 - Mar 2, 2021
GHHIN
Global Dialogue Platform: Extreme heat and COVID-19: Managing complex and cascading hazards
Dec 10, 2020
GHHIN and Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre
Global Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Humanitarian Action 2020 – Virtual Event
Dec 8, 2020 - Dec 10, 2020
German Red Cross / International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
Virtual global launch of the 2020 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report
Dec 3, 2020
Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change
Scoping and Design of Actionable Science: A case study of integrating urban climatology and land-use planning
Nov 20, 2020
NOAA
User-Oriented Evaluation of High Impact Weather: Meaningful information on forecast quality
Nov 11, 2020
HIWeather
Introductory Webinar: Satellite Remote Sensing for Urban Heat Islands
Nov 10, 2020 - Nov 24, 2020
ARSET, NIHHIS, GHHIN
Understanding, Monitoring and Estimating Weather-Related Risk and Impact: A basis for better warnings, decisions, and outcomes
Nov 5, 2020
HIWeather
Setting Operational Thresholds for Heat Early Warning Systems
Jun 2, 2020
Global Health Heat Information Network
2nd Global Forum on Heat and Health
Jun 1, 2020 - Aug 31, 2020
Global Heat Health Information Network
1st Meeting of the SCTF: Occupational Health and Productivity Impacts of Workplace Heat in Relation to Global and Local Climate Change
May 3, 2019
Scientific Committee on Thermal Factors
First Global Forum on Heat and Health
Dec 17, 2018 - Dec 20, 2018
Global Heat Health Information Network
Rising heat now kills one person every minute
2025 Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change
Review Points to Smarter, More Targeted Heat Warnings
A Systematic Review of Heat Health Warning Systems: Enhancing the Framework Towards Effective Health Outcomes. Sai Venkata Sarath Chandra N & Jason Kai Wei Lee. Current Environmental Health Reports
30+ years of heat wave data to reduce impacts of extreme heat
Lethal Heat and Humidity Events. Shuang Zhou et al. Annual Review of Environment and Resources.
Extreme Heat Risk Governance Framework and Toolkit
2025
Extreme heat is one of the world’s most dangerous climate challenges, threatening health, livelihoods, and infrastructure. This new resource provides practical tools for national and local authorities to strengthen coordination, planning, and investment to protect people and systems from escalating heat impacts. The Framework defines how governments, communities, and institutions can work together to reduce risks in the short, medium, and long term, from early warnings and emergency response to long-term planning and resilience. It offers a flexible, evidence-based approach that can be adapted to any setting, whether a low-resource community, a growing city, or a national government. Developed through collaboration among more than a dozen global experts and institutions, the Framework incorporates lessons from real-world case studies across different regions. It will be piloted in several countries in the coming year, with updates informed by local experience and feedback. Three core tools help decision makers put the framework into action: Assess the Maturity of your Extreme Heat Risk Governance This tool helps governments and partners take stock of how ready they are to manage extreme heat. It looks at five areas – awareness, leadership, response, resources, and collaboration – to find what’s working well and what needs improvement. Operationalize Extreme Heat Risk Governance This tool helps turn plans into coordinated action. It walks users through a simple four-step cycle – Demand, Plan, Act, and Learn & Improve – to strengthen teamwork, share information, and build capacity across sectors. Plan for Heat Action This tool helps identify what makes a strong Heat Action Plan. It includes examples and tips to support long-term planning and cooperation across sectors, helping communities become more resilient to extreme heat. These tools are designed for use by government agencies, urban planners, public health authorities, emergency managers, development partners, and investors. It supports more inclusive, data-driven, and equitable governance of extreme heat, ensuring that efforts to prevent and respond to heat are coherent and sustainable.
Overview for Network Partners: Global Heat Health Information Network
What is the Global Heat Health Information Network, and why should your organization get involved? This overview provides information for current and potential partners on the Network’s structure, priorities and activities.
The 2025 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change
2025
The report finds health risks and impacts of climate change are worsening, with millions dying needlessly each year due to fossil fuel dependence, growing greenhouse gas emissions, and failure to adequately adapt to climate change. As some countries and companies rollback on climate commitments, local and grassroots leadership is building momentum for a healthier future, from the bottom up. The report represents the work of 128 experts from 71 institutions, monitoring progress across 57 indicators – from heat-related deaths to bank lending to fossil fuels – providing the most comprehensive assessment yet of the links between climate change and health. Findings on heat and health include the following: Heat-related deaths have risen by 63% since the 1990s, now averaging 546,000 deaths per year (2012–2021). Between 2020 and 2024, 84% of the heatwave days people experienced each year would not have occurred without climate change. 123.7 million more people are facing moderate or severe food insecurity linked to more frequent droughts and heatwaves. Lost labour productivity due to heat amounted to US$1.09 trillion in potential income losses in 2024, with the heaviest impacts falling on low- and medium-income countries.
Handbook on Urban Heat Management in the Global South
2025
Extreme heat is reshaping life in cities. For millions of people, especially in fast-growing urban areas of the Global South, higher temperatures are making it harder to earn a living, attend school, access healthcare, or move safely throughout the day. Extreme urban heat and lack of sustainable cooling is threatening productivity, deepening inequality, and increasing the risk of displacement when communities can no longer cope. Cities cannot afford to treat extreme heat as a seasonal inconvenience. Without action, heat will erode livelihoods and overwhelm urban infrastructure and services. It will fuel unemployment, drive internal and cross-border migration, and put massive demands on energy systems. Cities must act now to manage rising temperatures before it is too late. The Handbook on Urban Heat Management in the Global South, developed by the World Bank in partnership with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), offers a practical response. It brings together real examples and strategies from cities that are already tackling extreme heat. It focuses on powerful solutions that are feasible, affordable, and easy to adapt – especially those that expand access to accessible, sustainable cooling.
Fundamentals for Thermal Comfort and Safety: Designing Climate-Ready Playgrounds
2025
Whether it is adding a landscaping feature, repositioning playground amenities, renovation, or new construction, this guidebook shares the fundamentals of thermal comfort and safety for climate-ready playgrounds. The information is applicable for planners, educators, directors, owners and operators (such as child care and school facilities; municipalities and parks; and community housing), designers, landscape architects, playground equipment and surfacing installers, insurance agencies, civic organizations, parents, grandparents, community members, and other youth organizations. The guidebook highlights challenges and describes the effects that climate has on playgrounds. It provides useful considerations, including four phases to help designers improve a playground’s microclimate. An emphasis is placed on helping playground design planning committees navigate using climate data, conduct site assessments, implement modifications, maintain the playground, and evaluate outcomes. Principes fondamentaux du confort thermique et de la sécurité : l’aménagement de terrains de jeu adaptés au climat Le présent guide présente les principes fondamentaux du confort thermique et de la sécurité des terrains de jeu. Il explique comment adapter ces derniers au climat par l’ajout d’éléments paysagers ou de constructions, le déplacement de l’équipement de jeu ou encore la rénovation. Les renseignements s’adressent aux aménagistes, aux éducateurs et éducatrices, aux directeurs et directrices, aux propriétaires et responsables (dans le cas d’écoles et de garderies, d’espaces municipaux et de parcs ainsi que de logements communautaires), aux concepteurs et conceptrices, aux architectes paysagistes, aux installateurs et installatrices de revêtement et d’équipement de jeu, aux compagnies d’assurances, aux organisations citoyennes, aux parents, aux grands-parents, aux membres de la collectivité et aux organisations de jeunesse. Le guide relève plusieurs défis et décrit les effets du climat sur les terrains de jeu. Il présente des facteurs utiles à prendre en compte, dont 4 étapes permettant aux responsables de l’aménagement d’améliorer le microclimat des terrains de jeu. En particulier, ce guide vise à aider les comités de planification des terrains de jeu à utiliser les données sur le climat, à évaluer les sites, à les modifier, à entretenir les terrains de jeu et à évaluer les résultats.
Climate Change and Workplace Heat Stress: Technical Report and Guidance
2025
As record-breaking heat puts workers’ health and livelihoods at growing risk, the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have released new joint guidance on workplace heat stress, the first such global guidance since WHO’s last report on the topic in 1969. The report provides evidence-based recommendations to protect workers from rising temperatures and outlines practical measures to safeguard both health and productivity. The new guidance highlights ten key actions for protecting workers in agriculture, construction, and other heat-exposed sectors: Combine exposure prevention and health surveillance to reduce heat stress, manage physiological strain, and prevent both short- and long-term health effects. Develop targeted programmes with specific interventions for high-risk workers and workplaces. Design comprehensive advisories that account for weather, clothing, work type, intensity, duration, payment methods, and adaptive strategies. Prioritize vulnerable populations, including older workers, those with chronic conditions, and individuals with lower physical fitness. Strengthen medical awareness and training to improve recognition, treatment, and prevention of heat-related conditions. Engage key stakeholders such as employers, workers, unions, occupational health experts, and local authorities. Ensure feasibility, viability, and sustainability so policies remain practical, cost-effective, and environmentally sound, with measures covering prevention, acclimatization, monitoring, training, and emergency planning. Explore technological solutions that can enhance both safety and productivity. Monitor and evaluate effectiveness of policies and advisories to ensure maximum protection. Integrate climate action, recognizing that tackling climate change is central to reducing future heat risks.
Extreme Heat Action Profiles
2025
Extreme heat is recognized as a critical challenge across all sectors. United Nations and international organizations are responding to Member needs with dedicated strategies, resources, and governance mechanisms that reflect the growing urgency to address heat. To better understand and elevate these efforts, we conducted a mapping exercise to showcase key findings and action on heat across the United Nations and international organizations. This process resulted in the development of sixteen Heat Action Profiles, each highlighting the specific initiatives, priorities, and contributions of profiled organizations.
Stocktake Report: Heat action across United Nations Entities and International Organizations
2025
As global temperatures rise, extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and severe, posing significant risks to public health, infrastructure, and ecosystems worldwide. In response to this growing threat, the UN Secretary-General has issued a Call to Action on Extreme Heat, emphasizing the urgent need for coordinated global efforts. This report examines the current landscape of extreme heat management among United Nations entities and International Organizations (UN entities and IOs), identifying challenges, opportunities, and strategies for improving collaboration and governance to support this call to action.
An Assessment of Heat Action Plans: Global standards, good practices and partnerships
2025
As global temperatures continue to rise, the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events have escalated, posing significant risks to public health, infrastructure, and economies worldwide. While Heat Action Plans (HAPs) help to mitigate these impacts across national, regional, and local levels of governance, the lack of formal standards has led to variations in structure, purpose, and implementation among nations, regions, and municipalities. This variability often results in fragmented approaches, leading to critical gaps in funding, vulnerability assessments, and long-term resilience strategies. This synthesis report identifies best practices and persistent challenges to provide a structured framework for improving heat resilience based on evaluations of heat action plans from six countries—Australia, Canada, France, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Although twelve countries were initially considered, no publicly accessible national or subnational heat action plans were identified for Argentina, Bangladesh, Ecuador, Egypt, South Korea, and Senegal. It advocates for an adaptable governance framework, proposing that national guidance related to HAPs incorporate adaptable core elements, such as standardized heat risk definitions, clear agency roles, multi-sector coordination, and early warning systems. This foundational structure would enable cohesive planning across governance levels, equipping regions to develop context-specific HAPs that align with national resilience objectives. The report also highlights persistent issues identified in recent evaluations, including the scarcity of dedicated funding mechanisms, inconsistent long-term planning, and limited evaluation capacities, which weaken the overall efficacy of many HAPs. By spotlighting best practices from the evaluated plans, this report provides adaptable recommendations that can help countries establish a national framework supporting sub-national plan development, thereby enabling unified, scalable responses that address both immediate and future heat risks effectively.
Narrative Analysis: Case studies in heat resilience
2025
As climate change intensifies, extreme heat is emerging as a defining public health and development challenge across the globe. From heatwaves that overwhelm hospitals to chronic heat and urban heat islands that threaten vulnerable communities, the risks are growing, and so is the need for effective, coordinated responses. This narrative analysis highlights how twelve countries are confronting the realities of extreme heat through diverse governance models, partnerships, and innovations. The case studies span multiple regions and development contexts—Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Ecuador, Egypt, France, India, Senegal, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States—offering a cross-cutting view of what’s working, where gaps remain, and how national strategies are evolving in the face of escalating climate threats. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, these profiles underscore the importance of adaptable, community-centred solutions, multi-sector collaboration, and strong institutional frameworks. By capturing lessons, successes, and persistent challenges, this analysis contributes to the growing global dialogue on how to govern for resilience in a warming world. This collection of case studies complements the broader efforts led by the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN), UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in support of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Call to Action on Extreme Heat (2024).
Report of the Expert Consultation on Extreme Heat Risk Reduction: Towards a common global framework
2025
This report summarizes the proceedings of the 17–19 December 2024 Expert Consultation ‘Extreme Heat Risk Reduction Towards a common global framework‘, where over 60 experts from government, international organizations, philanthropy, academia, and civil society met at WMO Headquarters in Geneva. Co-hosted by the WHO-WMO Joint Office for Climate and Health, UNDRR, and GHHIN, the consultation aimed to develop a shared framework for extreme heat risk governance. Through panels, case studies, and working sessions, participants examined governance challenges, cross-sectoral coordination, and strategies to scale effective solutions. A key focus was shifting from short-term projects to sustainable, institutionalized governance. The consultation produced three main outcomes: Consensus on the need for a common governance framework; Definition of core components including data integration, capacity building, and policy alignment; Agreement on a roadmap leading to a framework launch at GP2025. Follow-up focus groups in spring 2025 will address remaining gaps, especially in sectors such as transport, energy, cooling, and environmental management.
Heat and Health: Action Statement from the Global Heat Health Information Network
2023
The Global Heat Health Information Network invites civil society, national governments and the international community to recognize the pressing urgency of addressing the health impacts of extreme heat and take bold, comprehensive, and coordinated actions to protect the well-being of our planet and its people.
2023 State of Climate Services: Health
2023
The interconnection between climate and health is undeniable. The climate, exacerbated by climate change, poses systematic and serious threats to human health. Climate change is documented to be impacting human health in many complex ways, including by leading to death, injury and illness from heat stress, the disruption of ecosystems and food systems, increases in food-, and water- and vector-borne diseases, and exposure to air pollution. The 2023 edition of the WMO State of Climate Services report focuses on health, which highlights the importance of climate services and information in protecting lives and livelihoods. While there are many good examples of how countries are successfully using climate information and services to detect, monitor, predict and manage climate-related health risks, there is huge potential for enhancing the impact of climate science and services for health. This report examines the current state of climate services for health, and presents a series of next steps, recommendations and case studies.
Summary for decision-makers to address gaps in climate science and services for health: 2023 State of Climate Services for Health Companion Document
2023
Fueled by climate change, more frequent extreme weather events and drastic environmental changes have a fundamental impact on human health and well-being. Tailored climate products and services can serve as a powerful part of the public health toolkit – enhancing our ability to detect, monitor, predict, and manage climate related health risks. Among other targets, the draft COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health calls for improving the ability of health systems to anticipate, and implement adaptation interventions against, climate-sensitive disease and health risks, including by bolstering climate-health information services, surveillance, early warning and response systems and a climate-ready health workforce. The 2023 WMO State of Climate Services for Health Report and the WHO-WMO Implementation Plan for Advancing Integrated Climate, Environment and Health Science and Services (2023-2033) outline the current gaps and barriers that must be urgently addressed to enhance the climate resiliency of the health sector. This summary outlines critical investment areas to address the gaps in Climate Science and Services for Health.
Considerations Regarding the Naming of Heatwaves
2022
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) plays a central role in the global coordination of the naming of extreme weather events. International experts in public health, public policy, and meteorology were consulted to assess the advantages and disadvantages of naming heatwaves being piloted in several countries. At SERCOM-2 (Oct 2022), WMO Members considered the practice of naming heatwaves, and expressed caution in adopting or promoting this practice. Members requested WMO to focus attention on strengthening heat-health warning systems, enhancing technical heat forecasting capabilities, and building capacity and partnerships to protect vulnerable communities from extreme heat. Key findings are summarized in this Technical Brief.
Final Report: From the G7 Health Communiqué to Action: Health and Climate – Heat Preparedness through Early Warning Systems
2022
The G7 event “From the G7 Health Communiqué to Action – Health and Climate: Heat Preparedness through Early Warning Systems” on 29 November 2022 recognized the importance of scaling up and enhancing Heat Health Warning Systems (HHWSs) and corresponding policy actions as key instruments for building resilience to climate variability and change in the health sector. This report captures the expert discussions during the event on the state of implementation, opportunities, challenges and advances in protecting communities from increasing extreme heat. Its conclusions allow the G7 countries to learn from each other and share important lessons with the broader global community. This report has been prepared by the WMO – WHO Joint Office for Climate and Health in close coordination with the German Federal Ministry of Health in the context of Germany’s G7 presidency and the health and climate event as part of the G7 Health Track. The report will serve as a contribution to the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN). See also: Summary of G7 Heat Health Warning Systems and Action Plans – From the G7 Health Communiqué to Action: Health and Climate – Heat Preparedness through Early Warning Systems
Reporting on Heatwaves and the Health Impacts of Heat
2023
Media representations of heatwaves and climate change plays an important role in how the public thinks about, perceives, prepares for and acts on risks to their health, and how decision and policy makers address the problem. This brief was developed by the Global Heat Health Information Network and partners to provide journalists, editors and others working in the media and communications sector with guidance and perspectives on how extreme heat and heat health narratives and imagery can help save lives and drive action.
“Fan-First” Cooling – a low-carbon way to improve heat resilience in a changing climate
2023
Mitigating climate change is vital, but inevitable rising temperatures means that identifying sustainable cooling strategies is also important. Strategies at the individual scale that focus on cooling the person instead of the surrounding air can be effectively adopted, even in low-resource settings. This report presents the evidence behind “Fan-First” cooling as a low-carbon approach to improving heat resilience.
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